It's Raining, It's Pouring

I love sunshine. I will sprawl myself out in any patch of that golden goodness I can find and just soak up all that radiant heat.

But today it is raining. Oh, the rain.

I jumped out of bed, made a mad dash for the door, but when Mom opened the door it wasn't just a light misting of rain in August. It was a full blown torrential downpour.

It was so loud! And intensely wet!

I turned right back around and ran for bed. The call of the great outdoors will have to wait until it's not so ugly outside.

Unlike me, Olive Badger is out there flopping around in puddles. I think she has some sort of water proof suit. That's the only explanation for her going out there in that horrid weather.

The other possibility is that she likes the rain, and that thought, my dear readers, is too horrifying to contemplate further.

The Changing Of The Guard

I was quite the watch dog in my younger days. Being the only dog meant I had a lot of work to do. There is so much to sniff, chase, and bark at where we live.

I even had a death threat! I never let that stop me from guarding my house and my family.

But now we have this young whipper snapper of a puppy, who lives for guarding the house. She fairly vibrates with desire to keep this place safe.

I don't think I ever had that kind of drive. I was watching her rest in the sunshine on the front porch, which I myself love to do, but whereas I'm usually dozing, she was alert, her eyes scanning our street and sidewalk and yard and even the trees (she has a personal vendetta against a very forward squirrel) and I had to admit she is a better guard dog than me.

So Olive, I've decided to let you be the lead guard dog. I'm thinking I much prefer to nap on the porch chairs and let you sound the alarm. If it's serious, like that meter reader you had cornered the other day, I will be there to back you up in a heart beat.

By the way, give me a little more warning when you've actually got a real threat in the yard. I was a little embarrassed how much seeing that meter guy startled me. My only consolation was Mom also got startled. We both thought you were barking at the neighbor dog again. Just let me know next time so I won't jump out of my skin.

In fact, I hear you barking now. Hold on Olive, I'm coming! I sure hope it's not your squirrel again. That cheeky bugger is never coming out of that tree. You've just got to believe me on this one.

The Nerve Of My Mother!

I can not believe her nerve, the very audacity of her!

That she would put on her exercise clothes and her walking shoes and her sunglasses and a hat to hide her crazy morning hair and then try to leave me behind when I know she's going for a walk, it's beyond what I can believe.

She knows I know what mornings are for. She knows I know that if she doesn't sit down with a cup of coffee she is going to be changing out of her pajamas into her pirate pants (as Dad so fondly calls the pants she wears for exercise). She knows I watch her and wait to see if she puts on her shoes. She knows I know once those shoes are on, walking is about to commence.

And I do love me some walking!

But she tried to leave me behind yesterday! Tried to put me in my crate and take a walk by herself!

I'm still in shock.

Luckily I have crazy good sad puppy dog eyes, as does Sarah Beagle and Olive Badger, and we melted Mom's determination to walk alone. She mumbled something about us breaking her heart and us being pains in the rear, but I know she didn't mean the last part.

She likes being dragged, I mean, walked by us.

Here Kitty Kitty

I do not have an acquaintance with cats. I've never lived with one. I've never visited one. I don't know a single cat owned person.

That's not to say I'm not curious, or that I don't know cats are around.

Sometimes on walks I choose not to notice them. When a cat runs across the sidewalk a block ahead of me, why should I get worked up? I'm on a leash for heavens sake. My Mom is not going to let go so I can get to know a cat a little better. It's not even worth barking at.

Now, on the other hand, if it's the early morning hours, before 7AM and I am not allowed outside because my girls and I are a three dog barking band, and a couple of cats are strolling and lolly gagging up and down the street in front of my house, I might want to get to know those cats better.

I might want to give them a piece of my mind and a bit of lecture about the rules of the road and street safety and I might tell them that it is dangerous to just sit in the middle of the road and stare at my house and not be aware of cars coming.

Or I might want to bite them. I haven't decided.

I Was A One Dog Wolf-pack...

And being the only dog was just nice and dandy.

Then my parents brought home Sarah Beagle. She's fine and we like to play.

Then they brought home Olive. I find her a little less amusing.

But I discovered that with the addition of two other dogs, my wolf-pack grew and now I have a real pack! A group of lovely girls that happen to think we own every bit of land we see, even if we have just laid sniff to it for the very first time.

Camping this time was even more fun than usual because I knew my girls had my back if I ever needed to rumble.

Lucky for Mom, I never needed to rumble. She kept a short leash on us when other dogs were around. Kind of embarrassing, but what are you going to do? That's moms for you.

Today Is My Birthday

Today is my birthday. I am five years old.

I was slightly horrified last week to hear Mom say I was going to be six. I didn't feel six years old! Luckily, she checked her calendar and it clearly states I am just turning five.

I have been lots of places: walked the lone woods of the Yukon and stuck my head in a South Dakota prairie dog hole and walked the Vegas strip at night and stood on the overlook of the Grand Canyon and thought about walking on the Golden Gate Bridge (but it was too cold and way too windy)....

But to turn five in the comfort of my own home is probably the best place I could imagine being.

Mom did give me a graham cracker leftover from camping as a special treat. I don't mind if it's stale. It's still delicious!